LAS VEGAS — The second day of NBA Summer League featured pretty the same things as the first — random cameos in the crowd by established NBA like Baron Davis, J.R. Smith and David Lee; a lot of less than stellar basketball interspersed with jaw-dropping highlights and 32 quarters of players most of the crowd in attendance has never heard of fighting to better their basketball careers.

Not everybody in attendance was able to dominate like they probably planned, but plenty of players put together solid enough performances to be included in our Day 2 bullets featuring the best — and some of the worst — players for packed house in Las Vegas.

The entire Memphis Grizzlies team played well to begin things on Friday afternoon against the New York Knicks. The team’s last two first-round picks and seemingly career combo guards — Josh Selby and Tony Wroten — played stifling defense while combining for 39 points. They weren’t the only standouts, though, as current free agent Matt Janning also played very well with 13 points, four rebounds and even a block as he looks to once again parlay a successful Summer League performance into an NBA contract as he did his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns.

Josh Akognon has been tearing up China since leaving Cal State Fullerton, but there are very people in NBA circles familiar with his game. He showed quite a bit on Saturday, though, as he scored 25 points and nailed four 3-pointers … though the 5-foot-9 guard failed to record an assist.

Bradley Beal is the player most people figured would be a standout for the Washington Wizards’ Summer League entry, but it ended up being second round pick Tomas Satoransky stealing the show on Saturday night. Satoransky’s Wizards would go on to win a blowout over the Houston Rockets, but the young point guard played very solid on his way to 10 points — including a pair of dunks that would dispell some of the criticisms that he’s not athletic enough to play in America’s top league. Beal still finished better than him in the box score, however, scoring 14 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.

The Rockets-Wizards game was a blowout, but the two team’s young power forwards didn’t make that evident over the course of the game. Marcus Morris and Chris Singleton had to be separated at one point after a war of words and then later rookie Royce White and Singleton also exchanged some words. None of the three turned in particularly incredible performances, but it was fun to see some passion in Vegas.

Jeremy Lamb wasn’t overtly-amazing considering he made just two of his seven 3-pointers — and one of those misses was an airball — but he finished with 23 points in the points column. Fellow rookie Terrence Jones was quite a bit more efficient with 13 points on eight shots in 18 minutes.

Donatas Motiejunas didn’t look nearly as good on Saturday as he did on Friday. The Rockets big man of the future finished his second game in America with just one point after missing all five of his field goal attempts — and getting abused by Garret Siler a few times on the defensive end.

The majority of the Knicks looked like they had less than NBA talent, but former Memphis wing Wesley Witherspoon was able to put together a solid game with 15 points and five rebounds off the bench. It was more than most expected following a disappointing college career, but he did have one major blemish in the game — an air-balled 3-pointer that drew just the faintest chants of “Airball!” from a still-building crowd.

Klay Thompson got off to an impeccably-hot start on Saturday as he seemed to be on his way to cementing a Summer League MVP performance with 12 early points as he nailed the first four 3-pointers he attempted. The second-year pro for the Golden State Warriors wasn’t able to sustain that success, however, and finished with just 17 points to go with six turnovers and five fouls — though his 4-of-6 performance from beyond the arc didn’t hurt. Charles Jenkins was probably the best player on his team as he scored 24 points whereas Harrison Barnes took a stepback in scoring just 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

The Denver Nuggets look like they brought a Summer League All-Star team to Vegas, but they weren’t able to play like that for the majority of Saturday’s game. Jordan Hamilton had an amazing second quarter on his way to 18 points and a huge dunk (that led to him saluting opponent Draymond Green), but the remainder of his performance wasn’t quite as impressive. His veteran teammates weren’t all that impressive, either.

Kenneth Faried scored 10 points and had a series of three huge blocks, his 4-of-15 performance from the field can’t be sugarcoated while former first round picks Solomon Alabi and Gani Lawal combined for just six points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time.

Games will continue to get more interesting on Sunday as games start to be played at both the Cox Pavilion and Thomas & Mack Center leading to even more possible standouts at NBA Summer League — and we’ll have a recap of all of them available for you right here at Pro Basketball Talk.

The NBA Development League’s annual Showcase is halfway through with eight games already having been played in lovely Reno, but the show goes on — and could even get better — when things gets underway on Wednesday. NBA TV’s live coverage tips off at 1 p.m. as Ricky Davis continues his comeback attempt against Eric Musselman’s Los Angeles D-Fenders, but all four games on Thursday feature interesting prospects.

Musselman’s D-Fenders are one of the deepest teams in the D-League as they boast a pair of former first round picks in Gerald Green and Mardy Collins, but quite a few scouts have their eye on Elijah Millsap. Millsap, the younger brother of NBA power forward Paul Millsap, has quite a bit of potential at the next level if he commits to becoming a shutdown defender on the perimeter.

Davis had his best game thus far earlier this week at the Showcase with 13 points on seven shot attempts, but scouts in attendance were a bit skeptical of the 32-year-old swingman. The former NBA starter seemed to be trying to be someone he isn’t as he deferred quite a bit more than most were used to when the former first round pick was trying to pick up triple-doubles in the big leagues, but he’ll have to show he’s still able to score in bunches if he’s going to get a good look from the big clubs.

NBA TV’s second game of the day features Antoine Walker and the Idaho Stampede taking on Toronto Raptors assignee Solomon Alabi and the Bakersfield Jam. Walker, the former Boston Celtics standout, will need to be pretty impressive on Wednesday after starting the Showcase out with a disappointing 1-0f-8 shooting effort from the field.

Wednesday’s third game might be the most intriguing as it features big men on the opposite ends of the spectrum as far as their careers are concerned. Greg Ostertag will continue his comeback with the Texas Legends as they take on up-and-coming power forward prospect Charles Garcia. Garcia scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on Tuesday, but will need to show he can put up statistics in a winning effort if he’s really going to impress the scouts.

The last game of the Showcase’s penultimate day will feature the hosting Reno Bighorns taking on the Iowa Energy, the last team to make their Showcase debut. The Bighorns have a pair of NBA players in Sacramento Kings prospects Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Honeycutt, but former draft pick Andre Emmett stole the show in their first game this week. As far as the Energy are concerned, Marqus Blakely will be the player to watch as he looks to prove he has what it takes to play at the next level after being cut in training camp by the Houston Rockets.

Solomon Alabi was among a notable class of second rounders in the 2010 draft, but his NBA career will be put on pause after just 18 seconds of action. The Toronto Raptors announced that they have assigned Alabi to their D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, and it’s a move that certainly makes sense for all parties.

While the Raps could theoretically use a player like Alabi at center, he’s far too unpolished and inexperienced to provide much help to the current core. Sadly, even Toronto’s current group of slow-rotating, weak-rebounding, outside-in big men are more effective than a rookie center project. I like Alabi’s chances of becoming a productive NBA player eventually, but he needs extended burn and specific instruction to improve his NBA effectiveness, and that’s just what he’ll receive in Erie. As icing on the cake, Alabi will now be the only player on the BayHawks’ roster designated as a center. Head coach Jay Larranaga will benefit from Alabi’s length just as much as Alabi benefits from seeing some actual playing time, though Toronto hopes to benefit most from all of this.

Also, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, Alabi may not be the only Raptor on the BayHawks’ roster. Smith reports that rookie first rounder Ed Davis will likely be sent to Erie while he works his way back from knee surgery, a strategy that more NBA teams would be wise to employ. The D-League isn’t only a great place to send fringe NBA talent or projects. It can also be an invaluable tool for rehabbing players, although currently it can only be used for those within their first thee years in the NBA. The D-League is a terrific option for younger players trying to improve their conditioning and timing after surgery or major injury, so kudos to the Raps for taking full advantage of the D’s offerings.